What do the standings tells us about who the Yankees are?

If you had asked me on March 30 if I thought the Yankees would be in first place nearly three weeks into the season, I’d have said no.

If you asked me if I thought they would be the only team in the division above .500 and that Red Sox would be sitting in last place, I would have said you’ve had a Sam Adams or seven too many.

So what do the standingsactually tell us about this Yankee team? Well, I think they confirm what many of us Yankee fans suspected heading into the season: They’re going to score a lot of runs. And they’re going to give up a lot, too.

Witness the following…

— The Yankees have a +9 run differential. Not bad, but the worst of any other first-place team in either league. In fact, the second-place Kansas City Royals have a differential of +15.

— As noted in today’s Diamond Debate, the Yankees have nine wins and Mariano Rivera has one of them on top of seven saves. They’re scoring a lot of runs (77, so far, again last among first-place teams), but they’re not blowing teams out.

— As was much-discussed on Sunday Night Baseball, the Yankees have set a franchise record of 27 home runs through their first 14 games. Like John Sterling has said so far of Jorge Posada’s early-season offense: “It’s all or nothing or nothing at all.”

This is a good team that’s going to be fun to watch. The Yanks notched their first walk-off win on a sac-fly last week, and the winning knock on Sunday night was an 8th-inning single from Eric Chavez. Freddy Garcia threw a solid, solid game on Saturday. Those are all encouraging signs of a team that can hopefully do more than just launch home runs.

But at the end of the day, the Yankees are in first place only because of how putridly the Red Sox and Rays started. Staying there is going to require better pitching.

So let’s all pray to the Patron Saint of Bartolo Colon that they find it.

It shows us that they are an ALCS team that didn’t change much with the exception of Russel Martin who just helped them beat the team that beat them in the ALCS. The Yankees will acquire pitching and all will be as it should; Yanks in the ALCS. After that, who shows up.

One thing that always bothers me about baseball is that it’s more talk and thought than action. This is a sport; I don’t care what the back of the jersey sais, what you get paid or who you are playing against. Go out there and win. Period. If they outperform, I don’t care about anyone’s thoughts on whom the “better team” was. Bottom line, wins are wins. Unlike football, hockey, college basketball (NBA excluded), there is a real and tangible element to which team is supposed to win. Too little competition? Salary caps? Who knows. But sometimes the “worse” teams just want it more and they get it done.

I like your optimism! But I disagree that the team hasn’t changed much. It has. Some for the better — Martin, Chavez (we hope!), Soriano, etc. — and some for the worse, namely the loss of Andy Pettitte.

Andy’s departure substantially changed the dynamics of the rotation. The team went from having a dependable, grinder in the middle to a handful of question marks. Phil Hughes’ early struggles and Ivan Nova’s mediocrity have only compounded the problem.

The Yanks may very well cobble this thing together. But keep in mind that the big difference between the Rangers and Yanks last year was pitching, and you have to ask yourself, “Has the Yankees pitching improved this year?”

Can you honestly answer yes to that at this point? I can’t. But let’s hope.

This is the best question/analysis you could come up with 15 games into the season? If anyone can make broad or accurate assumptions already, then they belong somewhere other than commenting on this blog. Surely the bloggers in charge can come up with something more thought provoking than this. Then again it is the Times Union, known for some very lame blogs and bloggers, covering all subjects. Please dont answer this post with advice to not read it anymiore. Dont worry I wont be back.

But to answer you question — no, this isn’t the best analysis I could come up with. It’s just the analysis that occurred to me this morning when I looked at the standings while eating my breakfast and which I had time to write in between doing things for my actual job.

jakester, Andy chose to retire. He’s gone for good. You might as well say “Bring Back Mike Mussina” or Tommy John. Or Jimmy Key. We gotta go with what we got. Might make sense to package Gardner with a prospect or two for a solid starter at midseason. Or bring up one of the killer bees.

dg: why the snark? I think YOU should attempt to write a blog. Let’s see if anyone wants to read you.